//------------------------------//
// Compassion is not Pity 
// Story: Them Crazy Northerners 
// by Weavers of Dreams 
//------------------------------//

"Let me get this straight," Amethyst said, helping her mother put clean sheets on a small bed they put into Dinky's room. "You agreed to housing some random colt until a space opens in the orphanage?"
Derpy thought it slightly odd that Amethyst would just bring this up out of the blue nine days after she had come home with the news. He was been at the hospital all this time being monitored for any other injuries, receiving some grief counselling, and a little physical therapy to help him adjust to his new balance. "Yes, I did. But don't worry, the town treasury has contingencies for this kind of thing. They'll supply all the financing that goes into his feeding and care, so all we need to do is make sure he's comfortable and help him adjust to a new life."
"But a pegasus losing his wings, that's almost like a unicorn losing their horn," Amethyst said, rubbing her own horn tenderly. "He might as well be an earth pony."
Derpy gave her daughter a glare. "There's nothing wrong with earth ponies. Incredible strength and practical wisdom are nothing to sneeze at."
Amethyst wilted a bit. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound racist. But this colt you suddenly decided to take pity on only has two legs, and is going to need constant supervision to make sure he doesn't hurt himself."
Derpy began putting the blankets on the bed. "It wasn't pity, it was compassion."
"What's the difference?" Amethyst asked while she slipped pillow cases over the feather pillows.
Derpy let out an exasperated sigh. "Pity is a feeling of regretful sorrow projected upon somepony else, compassion is a form of loving mercy towards somepony in hard times. Like with you, it wasn't pity that made me adopt you, it was compassion. I saw how sisterly you were to Dinky, and I saw how miserable you were going back to that orphanage every night. giving into pity can bring you pleasure, but compassion can bring you joy in the most unexpected ways."
Amethyst blushed when her mother pulled her into a hug.
"Remember that day I adopted you?"
Amethyst did. It was only a few years ago. It was Dinky's birthday, and she had bought her stuffed pink elephant from the candy store owned by the sisters Lyra and Bonbon. Dinky had many stuffed animals, but not a single elephant. She wrapped it herself in a fashion that would have made Rarity faint, but she didn't think it mattered as Dinky loved to rip the paper to shreds. It was just a little party, with some gifts sent from Dinky's grand parents and uncle, but there didn't appear to anything from Derpy. After some cake and ice cream, Dinky opened all her gifts hugging Amethyst after finding the elephant. Then Derpy had left the room to go get her gift for Dinky. Amethyst and Dinky played with the elephant while they waited for Derpy to return. She returned with a piece of paper in her mouth, but instead of giving it to Dinky, she gave it to Amethyst. After reading the adoption papers several times, she couldn't stop crying for two hours.
"Took Dinky months before she'd stop telling everypony she met I was her new sister," chuckled Amethyst. "So how should we go about the colt's first day here?"
Derpy broke the hug and smoothed out the blankets. "Don't handle him too much, don't stare at his scars, help only when it looks like he really needs it, and talk to him, even if he doesn't respond. Being autistic, it'll take a while for him to get comfortable around new ponies, so don't try and force it, and he'll not display most of his emotions. Oh, yes... and routine, he'll develop a routine over time and we'll need to do our best not to disrupt it too much."
Amethyst was about to ask how her mother knew so much about autism, but a new voice cut her off.
"I still don't see why it has to be colt," Dinky sulked in the doorway.
Derpy walked over to Dinky's side and gently picked her up in her hooves. "Because he needed someplace to stay and I took it upon myself as I've already got two wonderful daughters who can help keep an eye on him."
Dinky wasn't convinced. "But colts are icky."
"Says the little filly who used to put toads in her mouth," Derpy laughed then nuzzled her cheek. "You will be on your best behavior, right?"
Dinky, still scowling, nodded.
"And you won't do anything to make him feel unwelcome either?"
Dinky nodded again.
"I'm going to have to trust you on that," Derpy said, putting her daughter back upon the floor and heading off to the kitchen to check on dinner. "I took the day off from work so I could help you girls for when I'm not around."
"Do you think he'll still be here around the time of the family reunion?" Amethyst asked, levitating Dinky onto her back and trotting after their mother.
Derpy paused with a tray of stuffed peppers halfway out of the oven. She didn't know a conclusive answer to that. If she said yes, it might sound as though she didn't believe there was much hope him. If she said no, it might sound like she couldn't wait for him to be shipped off into the government facilities. She decided to stick with a safe answer. "I... don't know. If he is, we'll make do. If he isn't, well, I hope he gets a good home and loving family."
"I don't know about that," Amethyst said as she set Dinky down at the table. "Back at the orphanage, the foals they labeled broken goods were moved around a lot, not staying in one place too long. They said it was so that prospective parents wouldn't be dissuaded when they saw them."
Derpy grunted in agitation. "That's just sick. It would be kinder to just throw them in garbage bins. Broken goods my... what a vile term to label a foal... or anypony for that matter."
"Ponies only want the cute low maintenance ones," Amethyst said, looking at her left hoof as though it were interesting.
"Civilization's just full of the most uncivilized creatures," Derpy muttered as she placed the tray on the table and glanced at the clock. "Six twenty. They should be here soon. Don't eat anything yet, girls. It would be rude to our guest."
"But we're hungry," Amethyst pouted comically, making Dinky giggle.
Derpy laughed as well, seeing Amethyst's attempts to lighten the mood. Then the door bell rang and Derpy trotted to the door and quickly composed herself as much as possible before opening it.
"Hello?"
Outside were a stallion and mare, nondescript and professional looking. in between them was a wheelchair with the colt curled up on top of it. Now properly cleaned off and his wounds treated, she could see that he was slightly smaller than Dinky, had a walnut brown coat with a gray mane and tail, and on his flank was a cutie mark of a cog pierced through with a winged sword. Derpy marveled at such an early bloomer. She also noted how he was laying on his left side to hide his missing legs, and he appeared to be staring off into nowhere.
"We're here to deliver the patient ma'am," the stallion said in a stoic voice.
The mare then stepped forward with a clipboard and quill. "Sign here, it's a document stating that you are this colt's, one Heavenly Conquest's temporary guardian under government jurisdiction. It's also made clear that the funds provided on a weekly basis are to be used specifically to for his welfare, any attempt to use the funds provided for personal endeavors will be punished under the Foal Protection Act, Article 33. Is that made clear Mrs. Doo?"
"Yes, it is," Derpy said, taking the quil in her mouth and signing on the dotted line.
"Good," the mare said in a flat voice. "The regency has also provided a few affects to entertain and educate your new ward."
"Those came this morning," Derpy said, doing her best to look the mare right in the eye.
"Very good, ma'am," the stallion said nudging the wheelchair closer to Derpy. "He's your responsibility now. Any breach of the guardian contract will be dealt with immediately."
"I understand," Derpy said, reaching out and bringing the wheelchair closer.
"A public official will stop by once a month to check up on you," the mare warned her.
"Okay," Derpy said with a nod. "I hereby fully take responsibility for this colt's welfare as his temporary guardian until such time as an opening in an orphanage or adoptive parents claim. I also hereby submit to the letter and spirit of the law, that states: under no conditions am I to abuse the Treasury Department's trust, nor willfully allow or bring harm to this colt's being, as stated under the Foal Protection Act of 515 AB, Articles 12 through 22, nor rob him of any benefits granted unto him as stated in Articles 27 through 45. Now is there anything else I am missing?"
The stallion and mare stared wide-eyed and opened mouthed at Derpy's legal dictation.
"Hello?" Derpy asked, waving her hoof in front of their eyes. There was no response. "Okay, goodbye."
She pushed the wheelchair inside and closed the door. The two stunned ponies recovered themselves a couple minutes later, still unable to believe that a funny-looking mare like her could be so fluent in law.
"Silly ponies," Derpy said to herself as she gently pushed the wheelchair into the dining room. She smiled at the girls as they came to take a look at their houseguest. "Amethyst, Dinky, say hello to Heavenly Conquest. Though being a colt, I'm sure he prefers just Conquest."
Amethyst brought her head close and looked him over with a scrutinizing eye. She noted the scars on his back and the way he was laying on his left side, hiding his missing limbs. His eyes were still staring off into nothingness. "Is he in shock or something? He almost looks dead."
"Oh don't worry," Derpy said with a dismissive wave. "He knows exactly what's going on around him. So, what do you think, Dinky?"
Dinky put her hooves up on the edge of the wheelchair and gave him a critical onceover before grunting. "He's small."
"Dinky, that wasn't very nice," Amethyst reprimanded her little sister. Derpy also gave the little a stern look, which Dinky lowered her head under.
"But true."
Both mares and the filly looked down at the colt who was awkwardly getting himself up into a seated position. Now they could clearly see the amputation scar where his left legs used to be, along with a few others. He held his head at an awkward angle not looking at any of them.
Derpy slipped around to the front of the wheelchair, and gave him a sympathetic look. "So, Conquest, I just want to say, I'm terribly sorry about what happened to your parents. I know a little bit about losing somepony you love. So if you ever need somepony to talk to or just be close to, all you have to do is ask."
"Doctors talk," Conquest said, still not looking at her, but changed the angle of his head. "Talk too much."
"Well, if you feel like crying, we're here to comfort you," Derpy said with a cheery smile. "No questions asked. I want you to feel at home."
"Stallions don't cry," the colt said firmly.
Derpy sighed. She could see an emotional dam building up. "That's not true, Conquest. If you keep bottling those feelings up inside it'll just hurt more later. But I won't try and force you. You can come to me when you ready."
"I smell food," the colt said.
That steered the conversation in his desired direction.
"Oh, yes," Derpy said, getting up to push the wheelchair, but the colt slid off of it and awkwardly tried to stand up, a pained look on his face. After a couple attempts, Amethyst tried to help him, but Derpy stopped her and shook her head.
She slowly stepped up to his said and looked down at him. "Conquest, can you look me in the eye?"
The colt stopped his struggling and did as he was told. Though he found it hard, and had to twist his head a bit to get a semi-proper view. He awaited what she would say next.
"Would you like some help to the dining room?" Derpy asked calmly.
Conquest looked down at the floor for a moment and then nodded.
"Okay, then, here we go."
Derpy used a hoof to help push him up into a standing position and then stood close by his side so he could lean on her as they made their way into the dining room. She also had Amethyst fetch another box for their guest to sit on like Dinky.
Once they were all seated, Amethyst leaned towards Derpy and whispered, "he see's to be taking this very well."
"No he's not," Derpy whispered back. "The doctors try and distance themselves from the patients, so he feels that's how he needs to act. He's never had to deal with this kind of grief before, so he's mimicking the ponies he's been around recently. He thinks that's how he's supposed to act. After nine days in that place, I figure tomorrow morning at the earliest and Thursday at the latest he'll break down and need somepony their to comfort him and listen to all his troubles."
"What if you're at work?" Amethyst asked, now feeling a little uncomfortable now.
Derpy put a hoof on her shoulder. "Than I expect you treat him respectfully and as a friend. Just to him, and give him a hug in needs it. Though I suspect it'll most likely happen sometime when Dinky isn't around. Colt's hate to cry in front of ponies their own age."
"That's because foals his age are rather cruel teasers," Amethyst said, memories of her earlier coming to mind.
"Maybe so," Derpy said as she took a bite of a pepper, "but you will do as a I ask right?"
"Yes, I will."